My cooperating teacher is excellent at facilitating class discussion. She asks the students a variety of questions that makes them ponder their ideas. She asks questions that are necessary to be able to pull information from them. Sometimes she asks questions of simple textbook definitions, but this is more rare. Typically she asks them application questions which may require them to reflect on some new information and make them use it to solve a problem. Last week the students spent some time broken up into groups working on dimensional analysis. In this way, they could work with each other and express their ideas about how to solve certain problems.
Reflections:
I like what she is able to do with the class. It is not too often that Dr. Pothier asks a question and doesn't get a steudent or two wanting to answer the question. It is good to get the students thinking about what they are learning. It seems as though some of the students are using their metacognition skills to their potential. Though it seems as though it is a smaller group of some of the same students that are using and illustrating their use of this skill in class, I still see other students that are trying hard in class and realize if one of the concepts they are going over doesn't seem quite right. I hope to be able to facilitate my classes to be able to participate in an open forum type class where we can ask questions and give each other answers because it is working together in class where the students can benfit the most due to their peers in the room.
Class Topic: Dimensional analysis
Grade: 11
Observed by: Steve Cannici
Observations:
My cooperating teacher is excellent at facilitating class discussion. She asks the students a variety of questions that makes them ponder their ideas. She asks questions that are necessary to be able to pull information from them. Sometimes she asks questions of simple textbook definitions, but this is more rare. Typically she asks them application questions which may require them to reflect on some new information and make them use it to solve a problem. Last week the students spent some time broken up into groups working on dimensional analysis. In this way, they could work with each other and express their ideas about how to solve certain problems.Reflections:
I like what she is able to do with the class. It is not too often that Dr. Pothier asks a question and doesn't get a steudent or two wanting to answer the question. It is good to get the students thinking about what they are learning. It seems as though some of the students are using their metacognition skills to their potential. Though it seems as though it is a smaller group of some of the same students that are using and illustrating their use of this skill in class, I still see other students that are trying hard in class and realize if one of the concepts they are going over doesn't seem quite right. I hope to be able to facilitate my classes to be able to participate in an open forum type class where we can ask questions and give each other answers because it is working together in class where the students can benfit the most due to their peers in the room.Class Topic: Dimensional analysis
Grade: 11
Observed by: Steve Cannici